Map of Adisham, 1895

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Revised New Edition Series

Originally surveyed 1842-1893 and Revised 1893-1898. Scale is 1:50,000.

The late 19th-century was without doubt the age of the railway, and the
Revised New Series is the definitive record of its glory years. Another,
quieter, technological revolution was also taking place at this time: the
development of colour printing. Information could now be displayed in
more subtle and varied ways, and at a reasonable cost. The government,
the military and, increasingly, the public were demanding that the
map-makers responded to this.

The growth of the railways

In February 1804 the Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick, in order to win
a bet, built and successfully operated the first steam locomotive to run
on rails. He was unable to capitalise on this achievement and it was left
to others, notably George Stephenson, to refine and develop this new
technology over the next 20 years. The result was a railway-building
boom that was to transform the country.

Fewer than 100 miles of track existed in 1830; this had grown to 1,500
miles by 1840, and to 10,400 miles by 1860. This revolution helped drive Britain’s increasing prosperity and
industrialisation during the rest of the century, and contributed to
numerous social changes including the growth of trade unionism, the
advent of tourism and the standardisation of national time.

Railways enabled goods and people to be quickly transported to
and from large towns and cities, so hastening the existing trend towards
urbanisation. In 1800, around 75% of the population had lived in the
countryside and the rest in the towns; by 1880, these proportions had
been reversed. As a result, many long-familiar aspects of the landscape
were changing for good – and changing far more quickly than they could be
mapped.

The "New Series" (surveyed 1842-1893)

The government and the Ordnance Survey took several measures to address this
issue. From the 1840s surveys were carried out at increasingly detailed
scales and were used for many purposes including railway construction,
geological survey and sanitary reform. In order to ensure complete and
accurate coverage, the 1841 Survey Act had already given surveyors the right
to ‘enter into and upon any land’ in the course of their duties. Having moved
into new premises in Southampton after a fire in 1841 had destroyed their
overcrowded Tower of London headquarters, the Ordnance Survey, armed with
its new powers and instructions, began work on re-surveying the country. The
results, published at the one-inch scale between 1876 and 1896, were later
to be known as the New Series.

The Revised New Series (surveyed 1893-1898)

In 1893 a more thorough revision was undertaken which resulted in the
publication of 346 sheets, between 1895 and 1899, of what became known as the
Revised New Series (later sheets were merely the same with hachured hills
added). Improvements in reproduction and printing techniques helped these
to be even clearer and more accurate than their predecessors. By this time,
however, another change was being demanded; for from the early 1890s,
the military was pressing for a one-inch map in colour. Financial, technical,
aesthetic and political considerations as to how this could best be
accomplished were hotly debated between the numerous interested parties.

The Revised New Map Series is an immaculate record of a vibrant society on the
threshold of a still greater period of development and urbanisation. It
records countless reminders of the past, many of which were about to be
swept away for good.
For local historians, this is the final record of your part of the country
before the changes brought by the motor car. If your interest is genealogical,
the series coincides with the 1901 Census, showing the landscape your
ancestors inhabited. Whatever your reason for being interested in your area’s
past, prepared to be entranced by these maps – enlarged and combined to match
the present-day OS Landrangers, they will reveal secrets of a familiar
landscape you never knew existed.